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Patio season is a huge money maker for restaurants. While we’re quickly approaching the end of the season, we still have a few good days left ahead of us. And owning patio heaters definitely helps extend the season. Keeping both your patio and patio furniture in tip top shape helps ensure you can take advantage of the crowds. In preparation for the end of the season, we’ve put together a list of steps you should be taking to ensure your patio is well preserved and protected from the elements during the harsh winter months. Check out the things to make sure get done before winter is upon us.

1. Turn off any outdoor taps and clear the lines of water to avoid pipes bursting.

2. Examine the patio foundation and have cracks sealed up to avoid water getting into the cracks and expanding them even more.

3. Clean your patio furniture.

4. Store your hostess stands, patio chairs and tables either away from the elements in an indoor storage space or underneath storage covers that protect them from the elements.

5. Store patio heaters close to your restaurant under the eaves with the protective covers on or away from the elements entirely in an indoor storage space.

6. Take stock of what needs replacing (patio chairs, tables, extra tabletop supplies, etc.) and save that list until the spring so you can order prior to patio season starting again.

7. If you have rolling garage doors, consider temporary insulation around the frame of the door (like this) to avoid any costly drafts and unhappy customers.

8. Clean up any leaves or debris so you don’t have discolouration occurring on your patio material over the winter months.

Last week, we talked about whether you should stack Chiavari chairs with or without cushions and as a follow on to that post, today’s post will showcase how to store Chiavari chair cushions. Storage of Chiavari chair cushions is critical to ensure that they don’t get stained from dust or dirt in the warehouse. Here are some of the solutions we’ve heard event rental companies use to store Chiavari chair cushions.

Chiavari Cushion Bags

Coming in two sizes and holding between 25 – 50 Chiavari chair cushions, Chiavari cushion bags are a great option to both keep the same colour cushions together as well as protect them from stains. Chiavari Cushion Storage Bags are made of canvas with a durable zipper and feature straps or handles to make it easy to transport larger numbers of cushions to and from events.

Cardboard Boxes

Depending on the size of the box, cardboard boxes can hold anywhere between 10 – 69 cushions. At National Event Supply we reuse the boxing our resin Chiavari chairs come in (measuring 16.5” x 24.75” x 101.5” tall) to store the cushions. We cut these tall boxes in half and fit between 40 – 69 cushions in each box.

Large Plastic Bags

Large plastic bags can help ensure that like-colours of cushions are kept together and are airtight from potential dust and dirt landing on your cushions. This could be another temporary storage solution.

Convection ovens are a god-send for restaurants as they help bake or roast foods faster by using a fan that circulates the heat more evenly and more quickly. Because of this they’re a frequently used item in commercial kitchens around the world with the most frequent users including Banquet Halls, Caterers, Restaurants, Hotels, and Bakeries. When an establishment first decides to purchase a convection oven (whether as a new start up or to replace an existing oven) one of the search terms people will look for are the best convection ovens on the market. Though we don’t sell convection ovens ourselves (we’re front of the house supplies primarily), we believe in educating our customers and providing value to them to help make their lives easier. Because of this, we’ve rounded up the top 3 convection oven manufacturers you should base your convection oven search around.

1. Blodgett

Founded in Vermont, Blodgett is located just 1.5 miles from their original location which dates back to 1848. Blodgett Convection ovens have been Overall Best in Class for 10 years running in Foodservice Equipment and Supplies and many exceed energy star efficiency standards. Additionally Blodgett has a full line of gas and electric ovens to ensure your needs are met no matter what your industry requirements are. Blodgett believes there are only two types of people of buying Blodgett convection ovens, those whose first oven was a Blodgett and those whose first oven wasn’t a Blodgett.

2. Hobart Food Equipment

As part of Illinois Tool Works (ITW), a fortune 200 company that owns other renowned food equipment manufacturers including Traulsen and Baxter, Hobart is able to put their more than 100 years of manufacturing expertise into practice. They combine the latest technology and your choice of gas or electric power sources to improve your results and reduce your costs. Hobart backs their ovens with a nationwide factory-trained service network.

3. Alto-Shaam

Alto-Shaam is another leader in the industry and has won Best in Class for Cook & Hold Ovens from 2002-2014 in Food Equipment and Supplies. Furthermore they were awarded Wisconsin Workforce Development’s 2013 manufacturer of the year to recognize their commitment to providing training and resources for employees among other programs. As you would expect Alto-Shaam offers both gas and electric ovens, many with industry leading features.

Chiavari chairs are a special event staple partially because of their stacking abilities as well as their elegant design. Most event venues and party rental companies know they’re going to stack their Chiavari chairs – especially when they’re buying 100 – 200 chiavari chairs at a time. What they don’t always know – is how to stack them.

We’ve had a few customers ask us this question and thought it best to write a blog post on whether you should stack chiavari chairs with cushions on each seat – or whether you should stack Chiavari chairs without cushions.

Our answer: We would not recommend stacking your Chiavari chairs with the cushions still on the chairs. We will not replace cushions that have been damaged in this way and do not stack the chairs in our warehouse in this fashion.

Why don’t we stack Chiavari’s with cushions on them? We don’t stack Chiavari chairs with cushions on them as the weight of the Chiavari chair stacks can damage the foam insert of the cushion. This leaves permanent indentations in the foam which in turn could prevent a bride from renting the chairs (or a bride from renting your venue space with the chairs). We would recommend taking the cushions off prior to stacking. This will ensure your chair and cushion investment is maintained. This also applies if you have Chiavari chair storage covers. We would still recommend the cushions be stored separately from the Chiavari chair and Chiavari chair storage cover.

Photo source (clockwise from top left): @halfbakedharvest / @forequarter / @rosaritofish / @thebeachhousepb

I think we can all agree that when you are looking at places to eat, the restaurant’s that draw you in are the ones with beautifully plated and photographed dishes. While it definitely takes practice to achieve a gorgeous photo, we thankfully live in an age where all the tools needed are at our fingertips. Not only can you take some pretty spectacular pictures nowadays with just your smartphone and a few apps, you also have the ability to look up other food blogs and restaurants for food photography inspiration. As a foodservice operator, it’s in your best interest to upgrade your food photography skills to help market your restaurant. I stumbled across some fantastic food photography classes while looking to take a class to expand my hobbies – and thought them worth sharing with you. All of them are online classes.

Food Photography: Shooting at Restaurants on Skillshare

Skillshare is an online learning community for creators. You can take classes in design, photography, business, technology, culinary, etc. It is $10.00/month to sign up or you can pay for a yearly membership for $8.00/month. There is also a 14 day free trial. In this 30-minute class, Daniel Krieger, a freelance food photographer teaches how he styles food as well as how he photographs food. The video lesson covers gear, ordering, shooting in daylight, and the images that make his portfolio stand out.

Story on a Plate: Food Photography & Styling on CreativeLive

CreativeLive is another online learning community who brings the world’s greatest experts directly to you. They host live and taped online workshops. This class is $129.00 USD. This class is a really comprehensive online course with 44 videos taught by notable food photographers Diane Cu and Todd Porter. You’ll learn how to use natural light for photography as well as how to style food to share a believable and fresh looking dish. When you’re done with this course, you’ll be armed with the technical skills necessary to capture your restaurant’s essence.

Food Photography with Andrew Scrivani on CreativeLive

This class is $129.00 USD and taught by world-renowned commercial photographer, stylist, and NY Times columnist Andrew Scrivani. This 3-day class (that you can do at your own pace) is said to be great for students of all levels and will introduce essential food styling techniques, the photography gear required, different shooting styles and post-production processes to make your food photos really pop.

Food Photography School

If the first three courses aren’t comprehensive enough for you there’s always the food photography school. This is a school comprising 130+ videos that have been organized into 14 courses including equipment, natural and artificial lighting, photo composition, styling a shot, angles, editing and sharing your photos. For $99 you get lifetime access to the videos and so much more.